I have no idea whether the tone of this show is like that of most reality shows; my impression is that it isn't--I hear that most reality TV is pretty negative, and there really isn't much of that here. At this point everyone on ths show really seems to like each other, and although I know that a lot of that is probably situational (remember spending a week at camp as a kid, swearing at the end that you'll keep in touch with all your new bosom buddies...how long does that last for most of us?) but it seems to be genuine feeling as well. I think this may have to do with the nature of the contest--yes, it's important to win, to complete tasks, but the way in which they win is also important. To win, they have to demonstrate that they are good people, and hopefully they do so because they are good people.
In any case...
This week's first test had the heroes appearing before a classroom of young kids, to tell them about--well, I'm not sure how specific the intention was here, but the goal was for each hero to get as many kids as possible to choose them as their favorite. Feedback appeared to be at a disadvantage in this one, since he was clearly not as comfortable around kids as the other two (Fat Momma and Major Victory are both parents). And although Major Victory made a good showing (kids like entertaining) the winner here was Fat Momma, who spoke about the importance of accepting yourself as you are, something the kids seemed to relate well to.
In the second test, they had to go to Universal...something? Some place associated with Universal Studios, I think. They had to approach different people to find a series of clues enabling them to find Dark Enforcer. This one was near, with Major Victory making the best time and Feedback running a close second. Fat Momma took forty minutes longer than either of them, and since this was a timed test, that was bad (as, according to Stan, was her snitching food from various park-goers in order to stay in character).
And then it was time for an elimination. Here's where the first big drama of the show happened, as Fat Momma became very upset at that point and insisted on talking to one of the producers--she wanted to be taken off of the show, because she didn't want Feedback to lose. It was all a bit vague, but there were tears and hugs and she was eventually convinced to return to the show.
Finally Stan called all three up, citing what they had done, both good and not so good. But it was Major Victory who was cut. And why? Because Stan thinks he doesn't take it seriously enough--shows too much humor--is more of a parody of a superhero. And not quite what Stan was looking for.
Hm. Now, where would one get the idea that Stan was looking for a parody of a superhero? Perhaps from the generalizations that Stan himself has been making throughout the show? "Superheroes never take off their costume." "Superheroes never reveal their secret identity." "Superheroes don't make others feel bad, they make them feel better." All right, I will say that Stan was clearly not looking for the type of superhero he, himself, actually wrote about. (The FF never had a secret identity. The Avengers' Hawkeye and Quicksilver had a relationship most kindly described as thorny. And Spiderman's constant quipping puts Major Victory to shame.) In part his tests had to do with common superhero stereotypes (the secret identity, etc.) and in part they had to do with showing character. In either case, he wasn't really going for anything all that complex, although certainly it was subjective. If Major Victory was acting like a parody, it was because he could reasonably have expected it to be appropriate behavior given the light-side-of-the-Silver-Age take on comic book heroes that Stan was basing his decisions on.
However, it wasn't all that bad of an ending for Major Victory--as he was on his way out, Stan surprised him with a phone call from his estranged 16-year-old daughter, who had been cheering him on; since his stated goal in doing the show was to show her that he was a hero, you can't really say that he failed. Yeah, I know, happy drama this time. I was happy to see that he did cut off the conversation after a bit, saying that they'd pick it up later when they had more privacy. Actually, on the whole this show has done very well with regard to not invading the participants' privacy. I like that.
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